Westfalia James Cook and Airstream Westfalia

Black water update; new shocks

Our first camping trip of the year came before the black water system was complete. My wife was positive we’d be just fine using the campground toilets; I waited until she’d stood in line for the pit toilet to bring out the Luggable Loo I’d bought instead 🙂 I’ve never been such a champion thanks to a 5 gallon pail and a garbage bag!!

The reason the toilet wasn’t put back together was that the holding tank manufacturer had sent me a tank with the fittings in the wrong place. I’d specified that the bottom outlet be about 2.5″ from the edge; apparently 3″ is as close as they can make it, but they didn’t give me a chance to move the top outlet to compensate. I bought the tank through Marine Sanitation in Seattle – Marine Sanitation took the tank back with no hassle, and ordered me another one right away. That one arrived yesterday, with fittings in the right position, but with the bottom of the tank so bowed that the fitting was on a 30 degree angle. Marine Sanitation took that one back too, and hopefully the next one will get it right. I’ll put up an updated fitting drawing soon for anyone who’s interested. Full credit to marinesan for taking care of their customers.

The electric slide valves didn’t work out either. It turns out that they need to be installed vertically, and they’re HUGE! So there’s no way they’ll fit under the van without dropping the plumbing ridiculously low. They went back as well, replaced with good ol’ Valterra slide valves with a cable pull. Amazing that there’s not a better product out there by now.

Finally for today, I have a new set of Koni Reds to install. The rears have arrived, while the fronts are backordered until the end of June. Thmotorsports.com has the best price I could find; use code ‘5offFive’ to get 5% off, for a total price of $533.52 shipped.